


A Vessel in Death

by ForbiddenArchive



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes
Genre: Corruption, Identity Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:54:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23657917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForbiddenArchive/pseuds/ForbiddenArchive
Summary: To counteract Fjorm becoming Múspell's vessel, Nifl chooses the fallen Laegjarn as its vessel.
Kudos: 5





	A Vessel in Death

It was cold. Too cold. Like everything had been covered in a sleeve of ice, keeping them from moving…  
  
That’s what it felt like to Laegjarn, one of the commanders of the Múspell army. She knew what had last happened to her. She had been felled in combat, and she passed on to the next world. That’s what she thought, at least. And yet, here she was, lying cold on the ground as if she was stuck there…

Was that truly what had happened? Was she stuck in purgatory for her actions? She tried to put things together, but her mind was a haze. She shook her head as she tried to stand up, the icy air around her crackling in response. She couldn’t feel her arms nor her legs, but they responded to her commands, so clearly she just had to use them and her feeling would return…  
  
“Warriors of Nifl and Askr…” Laegjarn muttered to herself as she managed to stand tall once more, feeling the cold penetrating through her armor. She shivered, closing her eyes as she breathed a deep sigh of relief. “They bested me, and here I still stand.” She pondered the importance of her continued existence, as she tried looking around.  
  
As far as the general could see, there was absolutely nothing except for a black, cold and empty void around her. She could walk for miles, and she’d have practically gotten nowhere. That was the kind of place she was stuck in. She scoffed to herself as she reached for her blade, yet she found it conspicuously missing…  
  
She wondered where it might’ve gone. If she materialized with all of her armor, then surely it must still be… Ah. No, she understood exactly where it had gone. She looked at her chest, to confirm her theory.  
  
Indeed. She remembered everything all-too-well. The princess from Nifl, the one that had conducted the Rite of Frost, had struck her down. She still had the spear embedded in her chest, something she only realized as she became more lucid and aware of her surroundings.   
  
“What a cruel fate I suffered. Yet, the ones I fought against suffered just as much, did they not?” Laegjarn mused to herself as she reached for the end of the spear, noticing the shards of her sword embedded in her arm. The clash between the kingdoms had shattered her weapon as much as it had her spirit, and she did not fault them for anything they had done…  
  
She took a deep breath to steel herself as she yanked the legendary spear from her chest, tossing it aside as the empty hole left behind throbbed with life. The only part of her that still seemed to be just as warm and as longing as she had been just moments before. Or however long it had been since she perished. She couldn’t tell in this empty expanse…  
  
“Why am I still here…” She muttered to herself once more, touching the hole on her chest as she stared into the abyss around her, seeking some sort of answer that might help her on her way…  
  
The fallen general got her wish as something finally emerged from the depths of darkness. Something white, something familiar, and something foreboding… Something simple, yet fragile.  
  
A mirror, that reflected her current state. The pitiful look of a defeated woman, who was riddled with the wounds that she had accumulated throughout the war with Askr and Nifl. She chuckled as she peered into the icy pane of glass, putting her hand up against it. “I’ve seen much better days, yet… This pales in comparison to the way Father treated me. I remember how much hell he put me and Laevatein through…”  
  
Laevatein. Her sister. Her beloved little sister, who was no doubt still in trouble. Her heart, or what was left after the strike through the chest, started to ache. “Ah… Laevatein…” Laegjarn muttered as she rubbed the hole in her bosom. She knew that she had served her country and her kingdom the best she could’ve, but she wished that things could’ve gone differently. If her Father had been reasonable, perhaps a truce and a partnership between their nations could’ve been achieved…  
  
As her inner thoughts swirled around in her head, she made the mistake of looking into the mirror once more, causing her eyes to widen in shock. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, as she staggered backward. “No… What is this? What are you showing me, you foul…”  
  
...A perfect life. That’s what the icy mirror showed her. A life where her Father had either been killed or abdicated the throne. A life where she was the new Queen, with her little sister disarmed and sitting on her lap like the princess she should’ve been. Her heart throbbed with a sense of longing as she saw that peaceful scene displayed in front of her.  
  
“Your majesty.” The words came from the mirror as it turned around, showing off the complete family of Nifl, each of them unharmed and happier than ever. “May our alliance last until the end.” They each chanted, and the apparitions of her sister and herself echoed the sentiment. This is what could’ve been. A world where she was the one keeping things under control…  
  
A world where this bloodshed didn’t have to happen. A tear rolled down her cheek as it turned into ice. “How cruel. You’re here to show me what could’ve been…” Laegjarn muttered as she looked into the mirror, clenching her fist as she pulled it back, ready to shatter it and get the sight of a happier life out of her head.  
  
Once her fist met the surface however, she just felt pain itself rush through her. She screamed as she collapsed to the ground… but as she tried to nurse the pain in her arm, it was gone. She blinked, baffled by the sudden change. “What… What trickery is this?” The general muttered, examining her arm closer…  
  
The armor had been peeled right off or even shattered thanks to the blow. She couldn’t believe her eyes, but that was the least of it. As she looked closer, she noticed that her usual tanned skin that she had achieved from living her life in Múspell had turned a pale shade, something almost alien to her. It was even paler than the skin tones of the Nifl family, making it even more perplexing…  
  
“It is no trickery.” A voice echoed throughout her head, prompting the general to spin around with her arm tucked close to her body so that she still had one to defend herself with. “You seem to misunderstand your role here, General of Múspell.” It spoke up once more, leaving the battle-hardened woman perplexed, to say the least.  
  
Laegjarn continued to swivel around, but once her eyes met the mirror again, she noticed something utterly wrong. It was herself reflected once more, but this time she seemed… Cold. Dead. She knew that she was both of those things, but the one reflected in the icy glass was embodying both of those aspects that much more.  
  
“Look upon me, Laegjarn.” The reflection spoke up, and she was forced to stare straight at it. It was that same voice she had just head echoing throughout her ears, and she knew she couldn’t just get rid of the mirror with a good blow. it was the only option she had.  
  
As she stared straight ahead at her other self, she could clearly tell what made her feel so offputting. Her body was pale as it could be, with her usual green and red hair having taken on a platinum blonde color. In fact, it had been done in such a style that she was hardly recognizable, with each strand reaching all the way down to her hips. It looked more appropriate on a regal princess than a general. Not to mention the rest of her attire, which was the same sort of military garb that she’d come to expect from Nifl.  
  
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the reflection was what she would be like if she had joined up with Nifl, though the few key differences made her raise her eyebrow. “What are you?” She asked very clearly as she steeled herself, guarding her body with the remaining arm…  
  
Only for the mirror to violently smash against her, getting the arm stuck inside… with the reflection’s hands cupping it. “I am Nifl, Laegjarn. No, that isn’t quite right.” The orderly voice echoing from the reflection continued, clearing its throat it pulled her arm deeper into the surface of the mirror. She hadn’t broken through, but rather her arm had sunk into the image itself…  
  
“You will be Nifl itself, General of Múspell. The one who had made the Rite of Frost has given into the flames of your homeland and Nifl needs a new leader to battle against her.” The reflection explained things as clearly as it could, while it continued to pull its prey inside. Prey that struggled by stomping her feet into the ground and having her heels act as a counterweight. “Persistent. Very well.”  
  
The tanned general yanked her arm back out of the mirror as the reflection let go of her, yet the arm had irrevocably changed, leaving it the same pale shade as her other arm. “I will… I will not yield. I will not be forced back into combat, especially not for a nation that I despise from my core!” Laegjarn shouted as she backed away, hoping that she could escape somehow. Maybe if she ran far enough, the mirror would just leave her alone.  
  
Unfortunately, that hope was quickly crushed as the mirror plainly just slammed her over the head. She could hear the glass shattering as a cold pain smashed through her, causing her to briefly scream… before the noise turned into pure silence.  
  
The broken mirror disappeared, and in its place stood a woman with shards absolutely piercing every part of her body. Those icy shards sunk deeper into her as the seconds ticked by, utterly freezing her from the outside and the inside at the same time. She could feel the ice of Nifl consuming her in mere moments.  
  
Her body was no longer under her control, and her mind was frozen forevermore. She was no longer going to have any sort of control, as she was going to be nothing more than a vessel for the spirit of the icy kingdom itself. As much as she no doubt wanted to scream and act against its wishes, she had no chance to do so. Even the remnants of the life she once led, the hole in her chest that served as her fatal wound… It closed up, leaving that life behind.  
  
As the cold and pale shade continued to spread across her body, her outfit changed to match. The armor that she had been proud of once before melted away, almost as if it was nothing more than a frozen decoration. As the water poured down her body, it was frozen into a brand new shape, one with a much more domineering and regal look to it. Something that would set her apart from her former status as a general. She was no general, especially with the skills at her disposal.  
  
Once the shade reached her head, it made short work of her hair. The horns that adorned her head fell off as her hair spread apart, turning from a unique yet dignified hairdo into one more emblematic of Nifl. A wide hime-cut that reached all the way down to her ass, with every strand being turned into the very same shade of platinum. She was regal, yet intimidating and wise at the same time. Something that perfectly captured the self-sufficient image of Nifl…  
  
Laegjarn, or rather Nifl, breathed once more as she held her hands aloft. In her palms, a pair of icy blades formed. The remnants of the knowledge within the woman’s body would help her fight, even if the people of Nifl preferred weapons meant for penetrating. Still, if it meant that she’d have a better fighting chance against the other kingdom’s vessel, then she was going to take it.  
  
“Your body will serve me well, Múspell scum.” The orderly spirit of the icy kingdom spoke with the voice of the body that she had stolen, though something was still missing. Something… like subjects.  
  
Nifl nodded to herself as she raised her blades high, letting the tips meet as she poured her magic through the void around her. Everything, even the depths of it all, turned into the same kind of reflective ice that had given birth to her… And from that ice, she would raise herself a lieutenant, somebody that could serve alongside her and keep the battle in her favor.  
  
Her thoughts flashed through the various warriors that had served Nifl. Whether it was by birth or by an alliance, there was plenty to choose from… And yet, only one could truly work alongside her. Somebody that laid close to the Múspell scum’s heart, somebody that she should’ve considered ages ago.  
  
She sheathed her blades as she kneeled down, reaching into the ice below. “Come back to me, wise one. You shall serve your country as a steadfast soldier until we’ve blown back the enemy…” The living spirit chanted, repeating the chant again and again...  
  
Right up until she felt a hand grasping onto hers. She pulled upward, lifting her reborn ally out from the icy plane of death underneath her. The shade of pink hair that followed was very familiar, both to the spirit as well as her host body.  
  
It was the hair of Gunnthra, the maternal woman that had helped the combined Askr and Nifl forces along… though, with the chant that Nifl had made, she looked quite different. Instead of the robe that covered up her body and left her looking harmless, she was covered from head to toe in armor that was both durable and reflective, ensuring that she could withstand blows from mages and soldiers alike.  
  
Her expression, instead of being warm and welcoming like usual, was just as cold as the one on the converted Laegjarn. “I serve Nifl wholeheartedly.” Were the words that left Gunnthra’s mouth, yet they contained none of the gentle nature or the charm that they once had. She was but a husk that would serve the needs of her Kingdom, and once she was done, she’d descend into the ice once more until she was needed.  
  
“With you by my side, the mortals will have a beacon of hope against the evils of Múspell. You’re good for nothing more than that, Gunnthra.” Nifl explained, though her heart seemed to pulsate ever slightly as she spoke. Perhaps it was lingering influence from her body, though she didn’t seem too bothered.  
  
...Perhaps when it was all done, she’d work on restoring her conscience. Then, she might be able to see where her sister went wrong, and why Nifl was justified in doing everything in its power to wipe out that infernal kingdom. Yes, that seemed like the right thing to do.  
  
“Come. We have a war to win.” The platinum-blonde spirit said, the two sinking into the ice below so that they could return to the world of the living. It would be a hard battle, and neither of them planned to show any weakness. That’s why their expressions were frozen as they departed this deadly void, never to return…  
  
The two fallen generals, the royals of the two warring kingdoms, now stood side by side as the sole defenders of Nifl. Whether they would be able to fight back against Múspell was not guaranteed…  
  
That, however, was a tale for another day. A tale of ice and fire, clashing forevermore...


End file.
